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NAMA Completes Safe Tower Project in Lagos, Abuja

Vanguard
enneth Ehigiator
30 July 2007

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said at the weekend that pilots flying the nation's airspace now have access to real time weather forecast, following the completion of the Safe Tower Project by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) in Lagos and Abuja.

Director-General of the NCAA, Dr. Harold Demuren, who expressed delight about the provision of the facility, said it would help to bolster passengers' confidence in air travel. Demuren had late last year expressed concern at the non-availability of real time weather reports for pilots in the country, especially as most of recent air disasters across the world were attributed to bad weather.

"We are very happy about the completion of the Safe Tower Project in Abuja and lately Lagos. It is the way to go in this country, particularly in the face of global changing weather conditions. "With this facility, currently undergoing test-run, pilots can now have access to real time or accurate weather reports," Demuren said.

The N6.5 billion Safe Tower Project, which is provided by NAMA to complement the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON), is now available at Lagos and Abuja airports. While Safe Tower makes correct weather report available to pilots for safe flights during bad weather conditions, TRACON is to make the surveillance of the nation's airspace possible, with a view to detecting unfriendly aircraft or other dangerous objects.

NAMA's Managing Director, Capt. Ado Sanusi, had said that now that the facility had been made available at both airports, attention would now be shifted to Nigeria's two other international airports in Kano and Port Hacourt. Capt. Sanusi noted that the facility, installed by a European firm, AVSATEL, would enhance safety of passengers and equipment, and urged the NCAA to make pre-departure briefing compulsory for all pilots.

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